The Witches' Stone

Standing Stone / Menhir

The Witches' Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir) on The Modern Antiquarian, the UK & Ireland's most popular megalithic community website. 7 images, 3 fieldnotes, 2 pieces of folklore, 2 weblinks, plus information on many more ancient sites nearby and across the UK & Ireland.

Images (click to view fullsize)

Fieldnotes

Directions:
From Dunbar, take the minor road south towards the hamlet of Spott. The stone is on the roadside when you come out of the other side (south) of Spott.

On the way to visit the Witches’ Stone keep an eye out for the Easter Broomhouse standing stone which you will pass.

The Witches’ Stone is quite small – about 1m high. There were several coins which had been left on top of the stone.

There is a worn information board next to the stone which states that the stone marks the spot where Marion Lillie (AKA the Ringwood Witch) was burnt at the stake in 1698. She was the last witch to be burnt in Southern Scotland.

This is an awkward place to get to but worth the effort if in the area.

Thursday 1/12/05
Well- what an improvement to this lonely site. Looks like the council have finally spent some money and tidied this place up as well as a new 'Wiches Stone' plaque on the freshly painted railings and a small plaque at ground level explaining a bit about the stone. All the ivy and vegetation that had almost engulfed the stone has gone to be replaced by a sympathetic rockery round the back and some white quartz around the stone. Great improvement, but this spot still gives me the creeps!

Friday 21/9/01
In the hedgerow next to a quiet and lonely road stands this small megalith only about 50 cm high and almost hidden in the hedge and undergrowth were it not for the iron railings which surround it. Why on earth surround this small stone with tall spiked iron railings? Was it to protect the stone? From what? It’s a little used country road. Or was it to try and stop folk performing rituals and lighting candles here as could be seen from all the wax on top. A lonely and unsettling place.

Folklore

"East Lothian has a rather dubious reputation for having had a large number of witch trials in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Spott was one of the centres of accusations in 1662. The stone is said to be near where Marion Lillie, the Ringwoodie Witch, was executed, reportedly in 1698. One story is that she was the last of those accused of witchcraft to be burnt in Scotland, but this is unlikely to be true as there are (unfortunately) later stories from Dornoch and Crieff. Recent reports have coins, candle wax, and the remains of incense being found at the stone."

This site is where the last witch in Scotland was burnt according to local legend. The nearby village of Spott was notorious for its witches in the 17th and early 18th centuries and this stone is placed near the spot where Marion Lillie, the Ringwoodie Witch, was burnt about 1698.

Links

An entry from Ancient Stones, an online database that covers most of the standing stones, stone circles and other stones found in South East Scotland. Each entry includes details, directions, photograph, folklore, parking and field notes on each location.